Automatic safety-alarm fob railroad-crossings



Z. 8. AND C. L. RANDLEMAN.

AUTOMATIC SAFETY ALARMFOR RAILROAD CROSSINGS.

APPLICATION FILED cm. 22. 19am.

1,315,685. PatentedSept. 9,1919.

WITNESS W1 WW 159M 3Y9 L Q Am 2"": COLUMBIA PLANOQRAPM cm. VASHINDTOH. D. C-

UNITED STATES PATENT onmon.

ZOUAVE S. RANDLEMAN AND CI-lIARLES L. RANDLEMAN, 0F DES MOINES, IOWA.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 9, 11919.

Application filed October 22, 1918. Serial No. 259,270.

To all 1071 0172 it may concern:

Be it known that we, Zooavn S. HANDLE- MAN and OI-IA nLns L. RANDLEMAN, citizens of the United States, and residents of Des Moincs, in the county 01 Polk and State of Iowa, have invented a certain new and useful Automatic Safety-Alarm ior Railroad- Crossings, of which the following specification.

The object of 0111 invention is to provide an automatic safety alarm for railroad crossings which 'will be actuated by an approaching train forsoundin'g an alarm at the crossing.

A further object is to provide such adevice of extremely simple, durable and inexpensive construction which will be intermittently sounded by means actuated by the passing wheels of the train.

With tl'ies'e-and other objects in view our invention consists in the construction, an rangement and combination of the various parts o'fthe device, w-vhereby the objects con-- templated areattained, as hereinafter more fully set forth, pointed out in our claims, and illustrated in the accompanying draw ings, in which:

Figure 1 shows a top or plan view ofthe actuating inechan-ism.

Fig. 2shows a top or plan view of the alarm device with the casing thereon.

Fig. 3 shows a vertical, sectional view through the casing,and one end oftheshai't on which the actuating trigger device is mounted.

Fig. t shows atop or plan view of the.

alarm device with the casing removed, part of the device beingshown in horizontalsection.

Fig. '5 shows a perspective view oi the portion of the rail illustrating-the F trigger device adj acent thereto and Fig. 6 shows a perspective view of the sounding device.

In the accompanyingdrawings we have used the reference numeral 10 to indicate generally the base oi. a railhaving the up-; poi-portions 26. Spaced from the track 13 an upright 11.

Secured tothe upright 11- are parallel laterally extending arms 12. Supported between the arms 12 on a short shaft orthc like 12 and spaced from the arms 12 by means oi'spacer sleeves 13, is adiskl i of any resounding metal, such as bell metal which is extended a stem or sliding rod 17 having on oneend a head 16. Between the head 16 and the partition 15 is a coil spring 18. Between the head 16 and the arm 12 on which the cylinder 14: is mounted, is a steel ball 19.

Secured to the rod 17 is a flexible member 19* which may be a chain or any suitable cable device.

The alarm device may have two cylinders 14, and connected parts, as illustrated in Fig. 2. In Fig. 4 we have shown only one of said cylinders, insomuch as the cylinders are alike where two are employed.

The chain 19 extends along the track and may be supported on u n'ights and extend member having key hole slots 29 which maybe extended over screws or the like 30 in the upright 11.

Spaced from lthenlarm deviceld at a suitable distance along the track is the alarm actuating mechanism which will now be described. I

Spaced laterally from the rail 10 is an upright casing 20 shown in Figs. 1 and 3.

Exbendingtln'ough the wall of the casing 20 and also throughthe Web of the rail lOis a shaft 2 1 which is mounted forrotation. On the end of theshaft 21 in the easing 20 is mounted anarm 22, which normally extends substantially upwardly and has at its upper end a lateral extension 23. The chainlt) is extended into the upper part/of the casing20 and over a guide pulley 24% in said upper end, and is hen secured to the extension 23, as illustrated in Fig. 3.

On the shaft 21adjacent to the outer side of one of the rails 10 is an upwardly extending trigger device or member 25 shown in Fig. 5, the upper edges of which are beveled as at 27. The parts are so arrangedthat the chain 19 is held taut enough to permitthe spring 18 to be normally extended, and yet so that the wheels of the train passing over the rail 10, when the train is moving in one direction, the trigger member 2 5 will be struck and inclined in such a way as to imp art limited rotationto the shaft 21, thereby moving the extension 23 downwardly and imposing tension on the spring 18. As soon as the wheel passes the trigger member 25, the tension on the spring 18 will be released and the chain will jerk the head 16 toward the alarm device 141, thereby imparting a sharp blow to the ball 19, and causing 1t tobe struck against the alarm device member 14.

In this connection it may be noted that the cylinders 14 are preferably inclined slightly downwardly from their ends ad.- jacent to the arms 12, so that the ball 19 will normally rest against the head 16.

We found by experiments that if the ball 19 is not used and the head 16 is caused to strike the alarm device member 14, the chain will tend to deaden the sound, whereas the use of the steel ball 19 gives a clear ringing sound.

It will be noted that a train moving in another direction will not sound the alarm device, for the reason that when the member 22 is moved toward the right, for instance as is shown in Fig. 3, the chain 19 would not be pulled. It thus follows that the train which has passed the crossing where it is desired to give the warning will not actuate our device for sounding an alarm.

When the train, however, is approaching the crossing the arm 22 is swung toward the left successively as each wheel of the train passes over the track, and engages the member 25, so that a continuous ringing 1s keptup; the length of time of said ringing be ing determined by the length and speed of the train.

It will be noted that our device is so constructed and arranged that the working parts are covered and protected from the weather, with the exception of certaln parts which would not be injured or affected by unfavorable weather conditions or snow or the like.

The parts are of simple construction; are inexpensive to make and the entire device is very durable.

It will be noted that it may be used for Wagon crossings, viaduct crossings, railroad crossings, and various signaling purposes.

Numerous changes may be made in the construction and arrangement of the parts of our device without departing from the essential features and purposes of our invention, audit is our intention to cover by our claims any modified forms of structure or use of mechanical equivalents, which may be reasonably included within their scope.

Ive claim as our invention:

1. In a device of the class described, a support, a sounding device thereon, a cylinder having an open end adjacent to said sound device, a rod slidably mounted in said cylinder, a spring in said cylinder for normally holding said rod at one limit of its movement, a striking device interposed between said rod and said alarm device, said cylinder being inclined downwardly from its end adjacent to the alarm device, a rotatably mounted shaft, a trigger member thereon designed to be adjacent to a railroad track, an arm extending substantially upward from said shaft, a lateral extension on said arm, a guide member, a flexible mem ber secured to said rod and extended over said guide member and secured to said extension.

2. In a device of the class described, the combination of a rail with an upright member, a shaft rotatably mounted in said rail and said upright member, a trigger device on said shaft adjacent to said rail, an upwardly extending arm on said shaft adjacent to said upright, a lateral exten sion on said arm, a guide member on said upright, a second upright spaced from the first upright, an alarm device mounted on said second upright, a cylinder mounted with its open end adjacent to said alarm device, and extending slightly downwardly therefrom, a sprlng mounted in said cylinder, a rod extended through said spring having a head 011 its end adjacent to said alarm device, a loose movable member in said cylinder between said head and said alarm device, and a flexible device secured to said extension and extended over said guide and secured to said rod.

3. In a device of the class described, the combination of a rail, an upright member, a shaft rotatably mounted in said rail and upright member, a trigger device on said shaft adjacent to said rail, an arm on said shaft, a lateral extension on said arm, a guide member on said upright, a second upright, a pair of arms secured thereto and extending away therefrom in parallel relation, a metal sounding disk mounted between said last described arms, a shaft extended through said last arms and said second upright, spacer sleeves on said shaft between said disk and said last described arms, a cylinder mounted on one of said last described arms having its open end adjacent to said disk, a rod slidably mounted in said cylinder, a head on said rod, means for yieldingly holding said rod at one limit of its movement, a ball between said rod and said disk, and a flexible device secured to said rod and extended over said guide device and operatively connected with said arm.

i. In a device of the class described, an upright, a pair of arms secured thereto and extending laterally away therefrom, a sound disk mounted between said arms, a striking device, means designed to be actuated by a. 10

passing train for operating said striking device, and a casing detachably mounted on said upright for protecting said disk and spaced therefrom.

Des Moines, Iowa, October 9, 1918.

ZOUAVE S. RANDLEMAN. CHARLES L. RANDLEMAN.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. 0. 

